Recently during the test match held between India and the rainbow country, South Africa, all the eyes were struck on captain cool aka Mahendra Singh Dhoni. India was on its first tour abroad after its shameful defeat England and Australia. During this match against South Africa, the splendid performance of Virat Kohli tried to create some kind of pressure on South Africa. But as we know, winning a match is not a one man show. The bowler and the fielders also have an important role along with the batsman. But the major role in all these events is played by the center point person, the captain.

According to Dhoni, he is not a great batsman, but rather he is a package who gives customized contribution. He may not be great as a wicket keeper or as a batsman specially in test matches, but his role is multidimensional and due to this, his individual performance hardly matters. What is important is his captainship and his versatility. Though not great but he is definitely a good batsman and wicketkeeper. He might not be technically perfect, but he has performed his duties properly within his limits. His coolness and patience, while leading the team is really appreciable. Basically Dhoni's package comprises of the combination of a batsman, wicket keeper and captain along with various value additions.

When Dhoni first came into limelight in 2005, he was a batsman batting in the first gear. But then he has completely changed his performance. He proved that, although fifth gear enables speed but while climbing the mountains of hurdles, only first gear is required. By accepting and implementing this fact, Dhoni has achieved the biggest success as a captain. He has taken the Indian team on the peak of success in Twenty-Twenty matches, one day matches and test matches. Along with these successes, he has also faced many big defeats. In all these success and failures, the cooperation of Dhoni's teammates should also be taken into consideration. Basically, Dhoni is a leader who listens to his inner voice and moves forward. This tendency of leadership is brought in the Indian team by Virendra Sehwag. He may not score high individually but he definitely has the capacity to increase the score board of the team. Similarly, Rahul Dravid was not a technically perfect wicket keeper but by doing wicket keeping himself he has given a good support and stability to the team. Dhoni has adopted the strategy of Ganguly to encourage the young players and give them opportunity to increase their individual ranking. Thus Ganguly, Sehwag and Dravid have a great contribution in Dhoni's development.

The bookish rules and regulations doesn't have any effect on the success path of Dhoni. He simply plays on his inner intuitions. His innings played on this methodology has gained  success as well as failures. The fierce but at the same time cool captain has many times behaved very protectively. Due to this he has not even tried to achieve the possible targets on the pitch abroad. He was also criticized for his debate with the senior players, his inefficiency to communicate in proper words and mistake of following the target until the last over.

In spite of all these controversies, the Honorary Lt. Colonel Mahi has given a new height to the Indian cricket. Besides this, he has also tried to manage the difficult work of forming a new team after the retirement of senior players. But these versatile and forceful players have many limitations while performing their duties. It is said that Sachin was not able to make triple century and Roger Federer was unsuccessful on clay court. But it can not be denied that these failures are visible only because big success were achieved earlier.

Beyond success and failures, Dhoni's biggest contribution is his management and temperament. He has always performed his duties without caring for results. He has the skill of concentrating on the things which are in front of him and under his control. He has the potential to maintain his self control in any adverse situation. Along with self confidence, Dhoni has tremendous confidence on his team mates. His struggle was not very easy and his journey from ordinary to extraordinary person was very tough. His out of the track behavior is proved by his daring to do experiments in complicated situations without loosing his self control. Thus Dhoni has given a gift to all the youngsters through his experiments of management. And this contribution of Dhoni to struggle in unfortunate conditions with limited resources is definitely a boon to Indian youngsters.

Source: Divya Marathi

Sachin Tendulkar has finally announced his decision to retire after playing in two Tests against West Indies in November, 2013. It brings to rest all speculations about when he would retire. The calls for his retirement would become louder whenever he failed to score runs. He had already retired from the One day and T20 formats of the game. His critics are also now singing his praises.

He has scored a total of 50,000+ runs in all versions of the game. This is the highest by any cricketer in the world. Will any one break this record in the future only time will tell. But today we can say with confidence that it will be very difficult to surpass this fantastic achievement of Sachin. He has run cumulatively more than 650 miles or nearly 1000 kms in compiling 50,000 runs against his name.

After scoring a century in his debut Ranji Trophy match for Mumbai in December, 1988  at the age of 15 years, he became the youngest Indian to do so. Subsequently he made debut centuries in Deodhar and Duleep Trophy matches also. A fantastic manner to start one's career. Till date he is the only player to have scored a century in all three debut matches.

In 1989 at the age  of 16 years and 223 days he was selected in the Indian team touring Pakistan. The future great batsman made his Test debut in Karachi against Pakistan in November, 1989 making a paltry 15 runs and Waqar Younis had the distinction of dismissing him first time in his Test career. He was dismissed for a zero in his first One Day International on this tour. 

He went on to score his first Test century against England in 1990 tour at Old Trafford in Manchester. It took him 79 ODI's to score his first One Day century against Australia in 1994 at Colombo, Sri Lanka. He became the highest run scorer in his first World Cup appearance in 1996. He has played in six World Cups and finally realised his dream of lifting the Cup when India won it in 2011 defeating Sri Lanka in the finals.

He went on to score his coveted 100th international century at Mirpur against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup tournament on March 16, 2012. It took relatively a long time for him to sore his 100th 100 and it was one of the most talked topics at that time. Sachin himself said he was under stress as people had forgotten his 99 centuries and the 100th had become the most important. It is a great milestone for the master blaster.

By now he held almost all records that were available for being broken. Every time he ran it was a record. An aging body meant he had to stop participating in faster versions of the game. He announced his retirement from ODI's in December 2012 bringing to an end a glorious chapter in One day cricket. Some of his scoring shots are etched in the viewer's minds for ever.

He retired from IPL after his team Mumbai Indians won the tournament  in 2013.

The petite 5ft 5 inches Sachin bats, bowls and throws with his right hand but writes with his left hand. His straight drive is considered to be picture perfect and have come in for praise by cricket legends like Lara, Gavaskar and even the great Don Bradman who believed that Sachin batted like him. A great tribute which the Little Master cherishes very highly. Another shot which is a treat to watch is the scoop over short fine leg.

He also has build up a good reputation as a bowler who can break partnerships. His haul of 154 wickets in ODI's has made him the 10th highest Indian wicket taker.

It is but natural that Sachin should have a massive fan following not only in India but abroad also. In Australia they like him a lot for the many determined centuries he has scored consistently on tours to their country. Indian fans frequently  refer to him as the God of cricket while saying that cricket is like a religion in India. He has consistently kept himself aloof from controversies. He does not get agitated and also is ever smiling and cheerful. At every opportunity he declares how proud he feels when he plays for India and this makes the fans like him more. He has many times said that representing India was his childhood dream. It is to his credit that he did so maximum times and not only brought laurels to himself but often brought great glory to his country.

In a country which does not have many successful world class achievers, Sachin gave a billion plus Indians something to celebrate repeatedly. Indians abroad would flock to see him perform but more than that they wanted to bask in the glory he brought to India and Indians. Sachin became an icon and brand Sachin generated trust and respect. His respect towards his elders and constant encouragement to his juniors made him a most loved figure among young and old Indians alike. He went on to prove that how so ever big one may become it is humility which counts.

Little must have his elder brother Ajit realized when he took him to Ramakant Achrekar a famous coach to get him introduced to cricket, because can you believe, Sachin was a bully in his childhood and would often pick up fights with new children in school. Rest is history.

Sachin Tendulkar has given us countless moments of joy and pride. May he have an equally illustrious career post retirement. Hold it he is only aged 40.

Ever since Delhi police exposed the IPL betting on spot fixing by the now three discredited players of Rajasthan Royals ,it seems the electronic media has no other news to broadcast. The whole country seems to have suddenly stopped making any other news. Rapes seem to have stopped, politicians seem to have stopped enriching themselves and even the opposition parties seem to have no agenda to throw at the ruling party.

The trio of Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan have successfully even bowled out the Chinese Premier's visit by relegating it to lower rungs in the news priorities. Modi also is no longer the flavour of the day. The only party happy at the turn of events is perhaps the Congress party. Attention from its scams is taken off by the IPL scam. The electronic media is only faithful to its TRP for that is from where it is going to get its moolah. The higher the TRP the higher the advertisement rates it can get. The new mantra is report not that is news but make news that will increase TRP of the channel.

The Delhi police which has been onthe receiving end in the last few months has suddenly become pro active and is seen communicating liberally with the Press. Its top brass is also investigating personally the trio, it is reported. The Mumbai police is trying to give competition to Delhi police. They too hold press conferences to announce such earth shaking disclosures as the seizing of Sreesanth's laptop from his hotel room in Mumbai.

What have the trio done that has given opportunity to news channels and the police to make so much noise. After all they have not embezzled any public funds. They have tried to make money by agreeing to carry out a prefixed agreement during a particular over. The whole betting activity in the country is illegal and thus their act also becomes illegal. It is a private affair between private parties. The BCCI and IPL authorities have to take action in the matter. That they have failed to stop this type of activity is not going against them but the involved players are being targeted. That the Indian state has not been able to neutralize the kingpins operating with impunity from foreign countries is not being held against it but the players who are lured and blackmailed it is held against them.

When the conviction rates in India are generally less than 33% the chances of the trio going scot free are thus very high. The Courts Will want proof and what the police says does not constitute proof. The judicial process in India moves at snails pace and even god will not be able to predict when the charge sheets will be filed and how many years will pass before the trial comes to an end. However the police have made a "killing" and by the resultant publicity have managed to remove attention from their failures especially in Delhi. The TV channels have milked the issue for more than a week now and are waiting for some other issue to increase their TRP's. The public also wants a new issue as it these days gets bored very easily.

The large number of bookies arrested will be released on bail and will restart their activities. Going to jail is a job hazard which they face once in a while. They do not lose face as everyone who knows them understands these pinpricks they have to face from time to time from law enforcing agencies. After all the bettors are drawn from all classes of society especially the rich and influential and thus respected class. Has it ever occurred to us that why no bettor is ever caught.

Till yesterday the antics of Sreesanth were lapped up and his dancing with women was hailed and praised. Today they are all being condemned. The media never had it so good since quite sometime and they will not let it go so easiliy. However Sreesanth and the others will have to live with this taint throughout their lives. After all even if they tried to make a slice of private money they betrayed the trust of milions of cricket lovers who cheered thinking the players were playing to the best of their capabilities. For this act they will always be cursed by the fans even if they go scot free from the courts. In the people's court they are guilty.

Cricket in India is said to be like a religion. Karl Marx has said religion is the opium of the masses. It is interesting to see in India's 40 degress plus heat stadiums full of spectators, cheering the T20 IPL tournament currently underway in the country. Such is the love for the game that prople are ready to shell out hundreds to thousands of rupees to watch players from all over the world sweating it out in hot and sultry weather. Spectators really get emotionally involved  in the games and want to see their favourite players perform everytime.

The IPL format is very well thought out and although no one is playing for the country but regional loyalties are encouraged to drum up support for local teams. This brings crowd support and the other revenues. The players are got through an auction and even fresh players earn substantial sums to lead a comfortable life. A large number of players who otherwise would have gone unsung have become household names and have also earned handsome fees running into lakhs and crores of rupees. No one grudges them these high incomes.

The bonding between the players and  the supporters is based on the trust and belief that the players are playing only and only for their team.The fans are trusting that the cricketers assembled from all over the world are honest and proud to play for their pride and dignity.

Little do they know, that sitting far away in the cool comforts of hostile environments to India. are elements who are out and  out to make money at the expense of the IPL games. They are fixers who care two hoots for the IPL or the cricketers or the paying public. They want to mint money through betting on each and every ball and other aspects of the game. If they were playing by the rules perhaps no one would mind it even though it is an illegal activity. The problem is that they fix the outcome in their favour and take bets against it. This way they ensure their winning the bets and making huge sums of money running into crores of rupees.

These betting syndicates operate from safe heavens of Pakistan and Dubai as per the police agencies.They have their  betting agents in thousands all over the country with Mumbai being the nerve centre and controlling the all India operations. People of all income groups lace bets and win or lose in the bargain. But it is a well known fact that the syndicates rarely lose and it is they who rake in the profits running into crores of rupees. One of the way of ensuring high and assured profits is by fixing the outcome at predetermined intervals. 

They thus require the services of players who will cooperate in delivering the fixed outcome during the match. It is here where the integrity of many players is tested. For cooperating with the betting syndicates and doig what they want to be done the players receive huge sums of money running into lakhs of rupees. It is not difficult to find a few willing players out of the nearly three hundred and odd participating players of the nine IPL teams. The matter comes to light only when they are caught by the police. The rest of the cooperating players can go Scot free. They can keep the huge sums of money they have made by betraying their teams and own consciences.

The three players of the Rajasthan Royals team including Sreesanth have been caught literally with their pants down. Clinching evidence put forward by the Delhi police clearly shows how they were carrying out the'fixing' in their overs by giving agreed to runs and thus ensuring that the betting syndicates earn huge sums of money. Is'nt it surprising that it did not occur to the them that they are betraying the trust of their team and millions of spectators all over the world. Did it not occur to them that they were letting down the name of India. Did it not occur to them that if caught their careers would end and they would have to lead a life of shame. Why were they ready to risk their name and fame for a few lakh rupees.

According to a bookie the format of IPLT20 is ideally suited for betting. It is a bettors paradise. Forty overs or 240 balls give that many betting opportunities in a span of three and half hours. On some days two matches are played, doubling the betting opportunities.There are large number of persons who want to make quick money and thus put bets with the bookies. It is the BCCI and the IPL management, which having let loose the IPL monster, have to ensure that their players do not fall into the traps of the bookies. Merely parroting that they are not government or they do not have investigating agencies is not the proper response. 

The BCCI wants to keep the moolah but pass on the responsibility of ensuring fair play to the police. This is not done. Why do they not have a fool proof security system which ensures players do not come into contact with bookies. Why do they not factor it into the players contracts that if they are caught in fixing activities they will forfeit their earnings and the Board will lodge an FIR and have them prosecuted.That they will be banned for life from playing cricket officially goes without saying. Why should not the Board take an undertaking from the players before and after every match that they have not done any activity at the behest of the bookies.This will also act as a regular reminder to the players to behave.

What is painful is the fact that our own players are cooperating with bookies operating at the behest of anti India mafia groups from Pakistan and Dubai and allowing them to make huge sums of money which is then used by them to finance anti India activities resulting in killing of our citizens and other collateral damages.That we are a soft state is well known but we are also an indifferent state is now becoming clear. How long before we become a proud country which will not place bets with proven anti India syndicates. How long itwill take for our many players to realize that country is greater than money and that reputation is worth millions. How long before the organizers know how to conduct a tournament and not only rake in millions and be thrilled.

I do not know about how many have lost interest in watching IPL but I surely have.